Former Duke standout and Norwegian American Abroad Robbie Russell has made his way back to the States and MLS after 8 years, signing with Real Salt Lake.

After Matias Cordoba (back to Argentina) and Carey Talley (trade to Chivas USA) both left the club, RSL had two roster spots open and has filled one of those spots with a player that could possibly be one of the fastest players in the league.

Russell started his European adventure after by passing his LA Galaxy draft in 2000, choosing instead to sign with Sogndal where he made a major name for himself.  In stepped Norwegian powerhouse Rosenborg B.K., where Russell started and helped the Champions League Club win it’s 19th league title before suffering a major knee injury.  After a change in management, Russell moved to Viborg of the Danish SuperLiga (the same as Danny Califf) in the summer of 2006.

Russell is normally a right back, but could very well see time as a right wide midfielder as well.

image via Wikipedia

RSLBoz has put together a pretty amazing package of shots from in and around the new Stadium in Salt Lake City (ok, ok Sandy).

It’s amazing how quickly this stadium has been put together. Not too long ago I was lucky enough to put my John Hancock on the very last piece of steel that was put up during the “Topping Off Ceremony”.

Flew into Chicago yesterday afternoon for today’s Real Salt Lake at Chicago Fire match, jumped on the Blue Line, transferred over to the Red Line, jumped off at the Chicago stop and stomped two blocks over to the team hotel.  Woke up this morning at the Avenue Hotel Chicago to not the greatest weather, but…

(more…)

Real Salt Lake owner Dave Checketts, Utah Governor John Huntsman Jr. and Sandy City Mayor Tom Dolan got together this morning in Utah to announce that MLS has rewarded Real Salt Lake the 2009 MLS All-Star Game for building their own soccer specific stadium.

via MLSNET

“The decision to call Utah home of the 2009 MLS All-Star Game represents precisely the type of opportunity that this Stadium and this team seek to set into motion,” said Checketts. When we broke ground on that fateful August day in 2006, we knew that this Stadium would bring spectacular events to this community, and I cannot think of another event that exemplifies that idea more than this one. The eyes of the world will focus on the majestic Wasatch Mountains and stare in wide wonder. World-class players will witness the passion of our fans, and travelers from across the country will fill the streets of this valley over three days next summer to celebrate this wonderful game.”

This was the view from the perch about an hour before we went live for our Pre-game show.

KSL 5.3

(more…)

Big game tomorrow for Real Salt lake as they look to build on a 5 game unbeaten streak against a very good Kansas City team that is still trying to get their legs underneath them after being on the road for much of the season so far.

Especially after drawing at Rice-Eccles Stadium nil-nil three weeks ago.

Had to stop for a layover in Denver and spied a few of my boys from the Rapids on their way out to Columbus for Saturday’s FSC game.

Javi and Kyle talk about the Argentina v US match.

The seats are going in and the field is about to be laid…  not too shabby!

It’s the 10th week of the 2008 MLS Season and it could possibly be the second most important stage of the year.

This is the time when National Team call-ups and injuries really start depleting rosters, so picking up maximum points (3) right now are extremely important to teams that haven’t necessarily gotten the best results.

How many times have GM’s, Coaches or fans taken a look back at the late spring/early summer matches played and have seen results that they dropped or picked up affect them during the run up to the Play-offs?  Every point counts right now.

Tonight is a perfect example of two teams in need of 3 points as San Jose visit Rice Eccles Stadium (the first seat was installed in the new Stadium in Sandy on Friday) and Real Salt Lake for Saturday nights Fox Soccer Channel game of the week.

Frank Yallop’s men will be missing Kei Kamara (Sierra Leone), Ivan Guerrero (Honduras), Ronnie O’Brien (Rest/Knee), Jean Phillipe Peguer (Season Ending IR/Knee) and Gavin Glinton (Sports Hernia) coming off their 2-1 win over the Houston Dynamo last Thursday.

Jason Kreis won’t have Ian Joy (Red Card), Yura Movsisyan (Knee) or Nathan Sturgis (Hamstring) available for selection after RSL’s 2-1 heartbreaking come from behind loss at FC Dallas, a game that was played for 60 minutes with both teams only having 10 men on the field.

Oh, and the picture (while of pretty shitty quality) is of the State Capital on the left and small piece of the Mormon Temple on the right side.

I got in last night around 8.30pm, met up with Jake and Koluder and headed over to Cantina Laredo across the parking lot for a quick bite / bevvie.

While we don’t have to be at Pizza Hut Park until 4.30pm-ish, we do have a 9.30am meeting.  That’ll consist of going over the run down, prep and meeting with RSL’s Jason Kreis.

Well, it’s official. Real Madrid will NOT be coming back to Salt Lake City as planned.

While it hasn’t been announced who will be the replacement for the International game date, RSL had some great teams come through Rice-Eccles Stadium in the form of Boca Juniors, Morelia, the Chinese National Team and Everton in 2007.

Sounds like the Euro - Dollar exchange rate didn’t help the situation at all, but GM Garth Lagerway has his ideas as to who he’d like to bring in.

image via Iran-Daily